Snowstorm
by dreamcatcher81
Summary: Lost and lonesome, Kagome and Shippou find themselves right in the centre of a massive snowstorm. Their ticket to safety? The not-so-tender mercies of Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands.   rated M for safety.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my plot and my new created figures.

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><p><strong>AN:** As you maybe know I have been suffering from a major writer´s block. This story helped me to (hopefully) overcome it. It is done with my wonderful Beta Firehauke (Thank you, dear!) I hope you enjoy it.

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><p>The whole of Japan was drowning under a thick blanket of snow. It was one of the hardest winters in centuries and snowstorms raged over the suffering lands. Whole forests had vanished under the merciless onslaught of the wide, heavy fall. Villages hungered and froze, because wood and food became a rare good.<p>

Travelers were stranded far away from home, desperately waiting for a change of the weather so they could finally continue their way. Violence and crime bloomed and no one was really safe. Groups and families were split, left to fend for themselves. Illness had spread and many were feared to die.

On a mountain path a seemingly lone figure, wrapped in a large cape, the hood pulled deep over it´s face, fought it´s way through high piled snow and over nearly impassable surfaces. Another storm was quickly approaching and the small figure glanced fearfully up to the rapidly darkening sky. It was frantically scanning the walls of the surrounding mountains in search for shelter.

With a closer look, it was obvious why the figure seemed to move so irregularly; it was limping badly. Hurrying on, the figure fought against the rising storm. The hood was suddenly pushed from it´s head. Long, black hair was ripped out from under the cape and billowed wildly around a heart shaped face.

Huge blue eyes blinked in surprise and a slender hands emerged from under the cape, desperately trying to catch the hair and to pull the hood back on the young woman´s head. The cold wind made tears stream over fair skin, which made the flesh burn even more from the elements.

"Mommy, let me down!" The high pitched voice of a child managed to reach her ears, for all that it was muffled from under the cape. "I can walk! Really! Please, let me down."

"No," came the firm answer from the young woman. Then she saw it, a small gap in the rocky surface of the wall beside her. "I think, I can see a cave, Shippo. Just a few more moments then we should be at least out of the storm. I have no hopes to start a fire for warmth, but at least we will get out of the snow."

Fighting her way up the last feet, the woman stumbled through the snow to the gap and finally was able to slip through the gap into a rather large cave. Looking around she opened her cape and knelt down, carefully letting a tiny red haired boy down. He looked around with huge, turquoise eyes, worry written all over his small face.

"Well, at least it´s dry in here," he whispered. Letting himself drop on all fours he ran a bit deeper into the cave, all the while frantically sniffing. "And it seems to be safe, but it is so cold here," he stopped searching the cave and sat for a moment, curling his tawny tail around himself. "If only we could get a real fire started. What do you think..."

He heard a soft thud behind him, and the little kitsune twirled around, his eyes going wide with surprise. With a startled cry, Shippo scrambled back to where his surrogate mother lay in a heap on the ground. Her eyes were closed and her skin even paler then usual. Sniffing at her, the boy pushed the cape out of his way and scanned her body for the reason for the collapse.

"Oh kami!", he whispered and stared at her blood soaked left leg. "Mommy! She said, they only hit her, she said it was a bruise. This is no bruise, this is bad! She bleeding, she is loosing blood! She will die! I need to stop that, I need to..." In his panic the kit did not notice the huge wave of yōki that was quickly approaching the cave.

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><p>Outside of the cave the storm continued unabated. The ice cold wind howled, swirling snowflakes and pieces of ice through the air. Every second, the snowfall seemed to get thicker and vision more obscured. The already low temperature dropped another few degrees, making any living still in the open search desperately for shelter or die frozen.<p>

A monstrous white dog, whose contours swam in the wide mass surrounding him, fought his way through the air. Blood red eyes scanned the area below him for a retreat, when they fell on the gap that had not long ago swallowed the woman and her child. Letting himself drop like a stone from the sky, the dog got surrounded by a strange swirl only to emerge from it in a human shape.

Slowly stepping close to the gap, the yōkai stopped in front of it, scenting the air. A slight scowl appeared on perfect, stoic features and his lips pulled back in a slight snarl. The male immediately recognized the scents drifting through the heavy air to him. He was just about to enter the cave as well as he recognized the other smell mixed into the scents, blood.

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><p>Having somehow managed to unwrap his mother from her cape and to take off her heavy bag, Shippo was now vanishing halfway into it, searching frantically for her medicine box. He did not notice the male that appeared behind him until that one grabbed him at the collar of his shirt and lifted him out of the bag.<p>

The boy froze the very second the large hand clamped around his clothing. His eyes widened almost comically as he felt himself lifted and turned. Instincts made him to lift his front paws to his chest and to curl his tail between his legs. His mouth fell open as he realized who was holding him in such a manner.

"Sesshōmaru-sama!" He forced out. A second large hand came up under his little behind and lifted him so the collar was no longer choking him. Relief spread over his face. "Thank kami, it´s you!"

"Kit!" The smooth, deep voice of the elder male flowed like honey over Shippo. "What happened to the miko?"

"We got attacked, rogue yōkai!" Eagerly the kit leaned forward. "She said she did not get hurt and I could not smell the injury, I assume she had a barrier up and..."

"Where is the half-breed?", the Western Lord interrupted his babbling. "Where is the rest of your group? Why are you alone with Kagome-san?"

"Do not mention that fool!" Spat Shippo, and jumped from his hand back into the bag, once more trying to retrieve the heavy medicine box. "It´s all his fault! All! Just because he has no brain, it doesn't give him the right to act so stupid." Again he got lifted out of the bag, closely followed by the medicine box.

Sesshōmaru sat the boy down on the floor and reached into his armor. He took a small, slender piece of wood out. The cave was getting darker and darker with more snow piling up in front of the gap. The male tapped the kanji for "fire" at one end with one claw and the kitsune watched in awe as a small reddish flame sprung from it, not warming, but it would suffice.

"Tell me what happened, boy," the inu said calmly as he turned to the little female on the ground of the cave. As Shippo recounted the events of the last few days, the elder yōkai spread the cape on the ground and gently laid the miko upon it. Carefully he sliced the wide, dark blue hakama with one claw and began to tend the wounds.

_~flashback~_

_Part of the inu tachi was sitting around a tiny fire in a small hut at the edge of a large village. They were forced to stop there as long as the snow prevented any kind of traveling. Right in front of the fire lay Shippo cuddled around Kirara, his eyes droopy and his tail swishing lazily. His finger played with a small amulet hanging around his neck. Miroku silently threw another stick into the dying flames and poked it with another one._

_A soft cough made him look to his left side were Sango sat. The young woman had a slight cough and was right now sipping an herbal tea she had gotten from her miko friend. Smiling softly at the worried man, she reached over and patted his hand. She was just about to say something when the door flap was thrown aside and a snowy hanyo stepped inside. Gruffly looking around, he scowled._

_"Where is Kagome again?" He demanded. "At least she has not taken the stupid boy with her!"_

_"Kagome-chan has gone outside," said Sango softly. "She wants to try and gather some more herbs for me, Inuyasha."_

_"Keh," huffed the male. He glanced at the bag lying in the corner of the hut. He knew there was most likely in there for him, but he had to check. Glowering at the others to prevent any protest, he knelt down beside the simple, but high quality, brown bag. Systematically Inuyasha began to go through the contents of it. With every item he uncovered, his scowl deepened._

_He hated this bag with a passion. Ever since the young miko had appeared with it he had tried to force her back into using the modern bulky thing that was able to contain so much more. Sadly the bag was not the only thing that had changed lately. Also her way to dress and especially her devotion to him had changed drastically._

_Many month ago, his half-brother had appeared and while ignoring him completely, asked Kagome to come with him. Softhearted as the young woman was, she gained a promise that he would not harm her, nor her comrades as long as she was helping Rin. Then she followed him, taking the kit along._

_Ever since that day the dai had appeared out of nowhere at least once every fortnight. The miko had simply taken her kit and followed him. Inuyasha had no real idea what they were doing or what they were talking about, as Kagome only said that she was taking care of Rin. After the third meeting, she and Shippo had returned with different clothing._

_The boy no longer wore the bow in his hair, but a leather band and a new, better fitting pair of hakama, with a sash instead of the little bow. His behavior had also changed; he was much calmer and no longer got riled up by the hanyo´s digs. The change of Kagome´s appearance had been even greater._

_Now she wore miko styled clothes, with the main difference being in the color. The hakama were dark blue and the haori was a light gray. After the fifth meeting the bag had appeared and replaced the ugly, yellow monster. Inuyasha had been shocked to find that she was also no longer caring unnecessary things with her that could leave traces in the past of her visits, which also meant: no instant ramen anymore._

_After the last of the mysterious meetings, the self proclaimed alpha had snapped, seeing the young woman was now carrying a wonderful, handcrafted bow and quiver. When he had noticed this as well as the little knife the kit now owned, Inuyasha had told her what he thought of her so-called meetings with the Western Lord._

_He had straight away forbidden her to whore herself any longer to the elder inu. Much to his surprise the miko had actually snapped back and told him that he had no idea what he was talking about and that he should shut up if he had nothing intelligent to say. Unnecessary to say that they were not on speaking terms after that._

_A soft rustle behind the hanyo made him turn and he looked at said woman. For a moment she simply stared at him, then she was beside him faster then he had ever seen her move. Giving him a death glare, Kagome snapped her bag from Inuyasha and threw her things back into it without even once looking at him._

_"You will no longer find any ramen in here, Inuyasha." She said strangely calm and soft. "And I would be grateful if you would no longer simply go through my belongings. What I have in this bag is none of your business and I expect you to respect my privacy." Having finished her repacking she lifted her head to look at him._

_"What the fuck?" The male glared at her for a long moment in shock. Then a strange gleam entered his eyes and he grabbed her sleeve. "Well, enough of this. Come with me, Kagome! I want to show you something. You too, kit! Hurry!"_

_~end flashback~_

Meanwhile the snow had piled high in front of the small gap that lead into the cave. It was still rather cold inside and the three occupants were slowly getting colder. Sesshōmaru had checked the miko all over and tended her wounds. Luckily it was only a few and the cut on the backside of her left thigh had been bleeding badly, but was all in all not as bad as it appeared.

"Well and then it happened." The little fox had just arrived at the last bits of his story. "He carried us away from the village, all the while saying he had found some herbs he thought would help Sango. But the farther we went from the village the more suspicious Momma got. Finally he dropped us on a plateau in these mountains."

"He dropped you?" One silver brow disappeared into his bangs as the dai looked from his task of redressing the miko to Shippo. He had studiously avoided looking anywhere but her wounds or her face.

"Yes," the boy nodded. "At a place that is for a human and a kit like me even under normal too far away to travel back to the village within one day. He abandoned us like some mangy dogs!" Shippo´s chest heaved in his anger and to the inu´s surprise his eyes seemed to flash red for a second or two.

"Go on, boy." The Western Lord said.

"I don´t know how he managed to bring us to that point." The boy whispered while he looked at the miko. "But he left us there, in the cold. Mommy only took her bag out of instinct. She put me under the cape and we went to search for shelter. We had only gone a few miles when we were attacked. Mommy purified them, but as you can see they still managed to hurt her."

"They did," the dai nodded. He bent to the side and pulled the bag closer to him.

"Where is Rin?" Shippo asked suddenly.

"She is at the Western House." Sesshōmaru answered. "This one was patrolling. In my true form, it is quickly done. Did you not know that you are in the Western Lands already?" The kitsune shook his head. "Hn. Now let´s see what we can do to prevent your mother from freezing to death without a fire. Do I assume right that you are not that cold?"

"I am cold, but not that much," admitted the boy. "I am yōkai after all."

"And yet still a kit." The inu reached inside of the bag and pulled three seemingly thin blankets out. Spreading one still folded in a half on the ground he waved Shippo close. "Come here! Lay down." His face betrayed nothing as he watched the little kit settle down on the blanket. After he was settled the inu wrapped the kit carefully with the rest of the blanket.

"Wow," Shippo´s eyes went wide. "It´s so warm. How is that possible? Where does Momma get those?"

"This one gave them to the miko because the winter was approaching," the elder demon answered, as he checked the blanket once more. "They are in case of emergencies. Now it would be the best for you to sleep, so you spare your energy."

"What about Momma?" The eyes of the kit were already closing.

"I will take care of her."

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><p>Kagome drifted back into a half consciousness, feeling warm and safe. A soft, well known smell surrounded her. She snuggled closer to the warmth as her mind drifted once more into sleep. After a while she woke once more. This time she noticed two things, a slight weight curling along her only slightly throbbing, left thigh and a heavy weight resting around her waist.<p>

As she moved a little, the weight around her waist tightened; strangely making her feel even safer. Reaching up to push her pillow into a better position she noticed another thing, her pillow was no pillow but an arm. Opening her eyes wide she slowly turned, fearing to see who, or maybe what was holding her and looked into sleepy, golden eyes with a very well known blue crescent over them.

For a moment the two of them simply looked at each other, then Kagome blinked slightly confused and broke the connection. The thought of her son hit her and she sat up with in a sudden movement. Looking around her gaze landed on the small boy lying not that far away on her left side. The kit lay, fast asleep, on his tummy huddled deeply into the makeshift bed the inu had made for him.

He had nearly vanished under the blanket, only the tip of his nose and little front paws were visible. The paws were twitching slightly as he slept on. The band of leather had slipped out of his hair that had recently grown long, covering parts of his face and spilling over the blanket. The gaze of the miko softened as she looked at him.

"He is fine," the female whispered.

"Hn," came the noncommittal answer from her side and made her turn back to the male that was currently sharing her bedding.

"Sesshōmaru-sama," she moved a little bit to put her hands flat to the ground in order to bow when his large clawed hand stopped her.

"Don´t," he rumbled. "Your wounds?"

"My wounds?" Confused she looked at him, then she realized that he must have helped her and a deep blush spread over her face. "Better, thank you! I assume you helped us?"

"Hn," the yōkai lord nodded. "When this one arrived you had passed out and I saw it as my duty to see to you."

"Thank you very much," she bowed her head. "I am grateful!" Looking around she took in her surroundings for the first time. She noticed how the little fox was wrapped securely in one of the emergency-blankets and the strange wood she had seen the Western Lord use from time to time to light up his surroundings.

There was her trusty medicine box, open, but still sorted which told her she had been right in her assumption the Sesshōmaru took care of her wounds and not Shippo. Her bag also lay close and on the inu´s other side lay his trusted armor and his precious swords, Tenseiga and Bakusaiga. She knew exactly how much trust spoke from the circumstances of his protection next to his person, not on it.

"Is Rin at the Western House?" Kagome looked down at the male, lying next to her on a blanket, his upper body propped up onto one elbow.

"She is," he nodded, watching her intently. Carefully the yōkai pulled up on the blanket that covered the sitting form of the female next to him. "Thanks to you she is slowly beginning to walk once more."

"She is?" The face of the little miko lit up. "That is so wonderful, I am very happy. I would have never thought for her to heal so fast."

"It had been a severe injury," said Sesshōmaru, unconsciously lifting a hand and brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "I would never have thought that you would be able to help her regain her mobility, not after breaking her leg and hip in such a way." He nearly smiled as the female blushed.

"Did you let Jaken out of the dungeon yet?" Kagome asked carefully. He rolled his eyes, but nodded. She gave him a gentle, and genuine smile. "I am glad and I am sure he really did not want her to get hurt. Personally I think she was simply to fast for him and so..."

The male´s breath caught in his throat as she smiled down at him. This smile, the one he had never seen her give any other but him was his undoing. All this time he had been restraining himself but now he could no longer control himself. No longer listening to a single word she said his gaze fell on those soft, luscious lips.

Before Kagome could end her next sentence he reached up, slipping a hand behind her neck and pulled her down. His mouth pressed against hers in a firm, nearly desperate kiss. He felt her stiffen in shock, but did not pull away. Sitting up he pulled her closer and on his lap, at the same time wrapping them into the blanket to prevent her from getting cold.

Finally as she had still not reacted, he pulled away, searching her face for any sign of approval. Much to his disappointment all he could see was shock and disbelief. He waited for her to say something, but all she did was looking at him. With a soft sigh he pushed her away from his body to prevent her from feeling too uncomfortable from their closeness.

"This Sesshōmaru will not apologize for kissing you," he began, his smooth, deep voice sounded slightly rough that seemed to go straight through every part of her body. "But you must know that this one is harboring certain feelings for you. I could no longer ignore that from this side there is more than just simple respect and appreciation."

"What?" Whispered the miko, her slender hand clenching into the wide fabric of his haori. "I don´t understand..."

"Kagome..." The inu looked down at her hand. Carefully he loosened her fingers from the fabric and took her so much smaller hand into one of his large ones. "The more we met, the more we talked and the more I got to know you, the way you act, your compassion, your intellect..." He smiled slightly, a rare treat only she received from him.

"Your heart and feelings, the more I could not help but fall for you." His face had lost all his usual emotionless emptiness, those wonderful golden eyes glowed with slight uncertainty, speaking volumes of his feelings for her. Hesitating, he continued in hope she would understand "But that´s not all... You are beautiful and powerful, more than any demoness that I ever encountered..."

"Are you telling me..." The young woman stared at him, hope slowly spread through her. "Are you telling me that you too have fallen in love?"

"Too?" He asked softly. She bit into her full lower lip, blushed violently and looked at their joined hands. Carefully he put a hand under her chin and made her look at him. "Does that mean you feel the same, Kagome?"

"I do," still not daring to look him in the eyes, she nodded.

"But..." Not sure how to phrase the next sentence the Western Lord stopped for a moment. "Why did you not seem to approve my kiss then?"

"Oh, I did approve it," finally Kagome fully looked at him. As she saw his confusion she could not help but giggle softly. "I just was totally shocked and overwhelmed." Blushing anew, she looked down at their joined hands. "I would have never dared to hope for you to feel the same, after all you are Sesshōmaru-sama and I am just plain, clumsy Kagome."

Her eyes widened in astonishment as a deep, rich chuckle erupted from Sesshōmaru´s chest. It was a sound she had never heard before, but would do anything to hear again. Over his handsome face spread a soft smile and those golden eyes glowed with amusement.

"Clumsy may be true," he said, cupping her face with both hands. "But plain, no! You are anything but plain." Carefully he pulled her face close to his and brushed his lips over hers. "You are everything..." The inu kissed her carefully, as she didn't pull away, he looked at her seriously."My everything!" Another kiss, this time with more vigor.

Kiss followed kiss and as they finally pulled apart both were equally breathless. Leaning his forehead against hers, the inu looked her in the eyes. Kagome´s face was serious, she smoothed his bangs away from his face and looked searchingly into his eyes. Equally serious he looked back and she seemed to find what she had been searching for as a soft smile spread over her face.

"Are you sure?" The miko asked carefully. "I am still human, you know that, right?"

"I am sure!" Sesshōmaru nodded. "Even if you were merely a normal human, I would be equally sure. Still, you are not a normal human, Kagome. You are miko and so not many may know that anymore, but we are not born to eliminate each other, but to balance each other.".

"How do you mean that?" The young woman furrowed her brows. "Is it not the duty of a miko to kill your kind?"

"No, let me explain," the inu said, taking her other hand too. "Mikos and yōkai are not meant to eliminate each other, but to balance each other. My kind has been created to wander through the lands, to protect it, to challenge it´s powers. Your kind is our counterpart, the power that prevents us from abusing our strength the kamis gave us."

"Hu?" Kagome tilted her head in curiosity.

"If a yōkai and a miko fall in love you can call it a heavenly match." He smirked slightly.

"Now I am even more confused." The miko shook her head. "Could you explain this a bit more in detail? Also you do hate hanyōs..." She suddenly whispered.

"I do not hate hanyōs." Sesshōmaru shook his head and lifted her hands to his lips. "I will explain this later, now let me try to give you more details."

"Please do so," the young woman nodded.

"When the first yōkai began to roam earth," Sesshōmaru began. "They were few in number, and very powerful. Some were nearly immortal and invulnerable. Back then, we were only amongst ourselves, but then the humans began to appear and spread."

Kagome´s eyes were wide with concentration while she listened to his tale, her gaze fixed on his lips.

"Some of the yōkai began to do awful things to them," he went on, pulling her in his arms. "They misused them, killed them simply for their enjoyment. The kami did not like that and finally decided to interfere. There was a young female who was betrothed to one of the most cruel ones. When the two of them met, she did not know of his evil actions, but she soon found out."

"What happened?" She asked softly, cuddling deep into his warm embrace.

"She asked the kami for help," the inu brushed his lips over her hair. "And they made her human, but gifted her with holy powers. They told her that she would have to test her male. If he would see her as human and would still love her their union would be blessed, if not... she would need to punish him for his dark doings."

"Oh my..." The miko sat up and looked the male in the eyes.

"Yes," the Western Lord nodded. "A heavy duty for one. You can imagine what happened, the male was overjoyed to see her human, but only because he wanted to use her for his own sick pleasure. But before he could lay hands on her, she purified him. As she was distraught over this the kami came to her and explained."

"Explained?" the young woman bent forward, her hands placed on his chest. She urged him with her eyes to go on.

"She had taken his life, yes," Sesshōmaru said, cupping her face. "Do you know what happens whenever you purify someone? With purifying a soul, one had saved it. So the life is ended, the soul gets another change, pure, and like a new."

"I never knew that," she whispered, looking down at her hands on his chest. "Still it is not easy, as the current life needs to be ended, but it consoles me to know that at least the soul is saved. What happened to the female?"

"She is the mother of all holy humans." A slight smile flitted over his face. "She found another mate, also a yōkai and their offspring were the first monks and mikos. Their union was indeed blessed." He lifted his head and sniffed. "It seems the storm has stopped."

Carefully the inu lifted Kagome from his lap and placed her on the blanket, wrapping her tightly in the other one. Bending down he lifted Bakusaiga from the ground and turned to the opening that led into their retreat. He moved closer to the gap and with one powerful, but measured strike he sliced through the snow that covered it, melting it with his yōki.

Stepping out the male looked around and spread his senses to check their surroundings for any threats. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and took some low, cleansing breaths of the cold, crisp air. The sky had cleared, all the heavy clouds had vanished. Stars spread over the inky surface and a seemingly very deep hanging crescent moon lit up the snow covered mountains.

Sesshōmaru turned around and strode back into the cave. His gaze softened as it fell on the small female on the ground. She had lifted the sleeping kit from the ground and held him in a tender embrace. Unbeknown to those two the inu had made a decision. He would never let them go again. This was his female and as the boy was hers, he would also take him in.

"Let us pack up and leave. The storm is gone."

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><p>The mountains were covered in a fresh, thick layer of snow, but the storm had constantly blown in one direction, so that most of the paths were now clean. In the air was the fresh and clean smell of winter mixed with the faint traces of the forests surrounding them. The peaceful silence was suddenly broken by the soft crunching noise of footsteps.<p>

A large white clad figure appeared on one of the peaks of the path, that made its way in slight windings and grades down the steep. His dark armor glinted for a moment in the pale moonlight and as the figure turned his head to look behind him, one could think that the moonlight covered his head and spilled over his broad shoulders, down his back.

A clawed hand reached out and once more took firm hold of a much smaller one, helping a raven haired female through a deeper patch of snow. The moment the tall male was sure that she stood safely by his side, he let go for a short moment of her hand to adjust the small bundle in his other arm. Silently he took her hand again and they carefully continued their way.

"Sesshōmaru?" Kagome looked up at her silent companion. As he looked questioningly down at her she went on. "I can take Shippo too..." The inu shook his head. "Is it ok for you to travel so slow just because of us, if you need to..." She trailed off as he quirked one single brow at her. "I just meant, because maybe Rin is worried and..." The other brow joined its twin and silenced her completely.

"Miko," he only used her title now when he was either angered or very serious. "You don´t really think I would leave my mate-to-be and my pup alone in the mountains? Especially at night and in weather like this?"

"Wait a moment!" The young woman came to an abrupt stop. "What are you talking about? Mate-to-be, pup?"

"Of course," he looked at her over the bridge of his nose. "What else do you think you are?"

"You can´t just decide that!" Shock was clearly written all over the miko´s face. "How about asking me first?"

"You did not protest when I told you that you are my everything or about what I did before we left the cave." The Western Lord fought the urge to roll his eyes at her behavior. "What did you think it meant, Ka-go-me?"

For a long while the two of them simply glared at each other. Kagome was fighting with being pleased or enraged with his declarations. But the longer she looked at him, seeing past his cold exterior, seeing him gently hold the small, sleeping kit, the more her anger faded. Finally she shook her head and sighed.

"Nonetheless it would have been nicer to ask," she said softly. He quirked his brow and suddenly slight smirk crossed his handsome features.

"This Sesshōmaru never asks," he stated and turned to resume his walking. The young woman stared after him, speechless. Finally reality caught up with her and she ran to reach him, all the time murmuring under her breath about arrogant dogs. She stumbled and he caught her, once more taking her hand into his as they resumed their path downwards.

They walked in companionable silence, each one of them deep in thought. From time to time, the young woman slipped on the icy surface, but she never fell as her lover kept a firm hold on her hand. The stars vanished and the moon began slowly to set, while the sun rose on the other side inking the sky in a soft rose.

Finally after a few hours long walk, they had covered most of the distance to the foot of the mountain. The kit in the inu´s arm had been awake for a short moment, asking if the storm had stopped and if everything was fine, satisfied with his answer he had gone back to sleep.

"Uhm, Sesshōmaru?" With a soft tug on his hand the miko made him look down at her. "You said earlier you do not hate hanyōs..." Her wide blue eyes looked questioningly up to him. The Western Lord looked down into her beautiful face, pondering how to phrase this correctly so she would understand.

"I do not hate hanyōs as such," he said, his own golden eyes serious. "I hate what most of them represent, a weakness of their yōkai parent. There is no need for them to sire an offspring like that, to expose the poor creature to the cruelty of the world."

"But..." She opened her mouth to say something, but he placed a finger on her lips.

"I know what you want to say," Sesshōmaru let go of her hand, placed his own on her jaw and stroked her lips with his thumb. "I do hate Inuyasha, yes, but for an entirely different reason. His mother was... let us say she was not the lady he wants to believe she was and he is a disgrace for my pack. He is cruel, dumb, rude and has no manners, to mention only some of his better qualities."

"Oh," the miko nodded in sudden understanding.

"As for the union between two beings like us," he pressed a sudden, short kiss on her mouth. "The outcome is never something like a hanyō. It would, depending on whom has the stronger ki, be either yōkai or reiki user. In our case, any offspring would be yōkai."

"Because no one matches your power," grinned Kagome. "I understand."

"Hnn," he smirked. "I am sorry, but no fuzzy ears on your own pups." He pushed a wayward lock out of her eyes and stroked her temple.

"It would not have been the same," Kagome nuzzled her face into his warm hand. "It will have manners unlike a certain someone."

"Of course," the inu nodded, a playful glint entered his eyes. "As their mother is a real lady, unlike the half-breed's..."

"What the hell?", came a yell a bit further down. As they turned their gaze fell on an enraged Inuyasha. He stood with spread, bare feet and stared up to them. "Shut the fuck up! Don´t talk about my mother! As if you knew her! Don´t you dare to insult her!" The hanyō reached for Tessaiga's hilt, struggling to pull it from it's sheath. He turned his attention to this action, realizing that it was not emerging or transforming.

"Cease your struggles, Inuyasha," said Kagome and took a step forward. "It will not transform if you want to use it against me or those that are mine."

"Yours?" Inuyasha snorted, his nose wrinkling. "What do you mean? The useless boy?"

"The miko is talking also about this Sesshōmaru." His elder half-brother stepped forward, half in front of his female. The kit sat now wide awake in his arm and looked down at Inuyasha. "Her place is now with me and our pack."

"With you?" The eyes of the half-breed widened, then he nearly doubled over with laughter. As soon as he could breathe again, he straightened and made an impatient movement with his hand. "Yeah, of course and Miroku is faithful. Now take the brat and come with me, wench. We don´t have the time for such foolishness. I assume you did not learn you lesson, but well... that is for a later time... Now hurry up! We have a lot ground to cover."

"No," the miko stepped around her yōkai. "What Sesshōmaru said is true. My place is no longer with you, but with him." She reached up and pulled the cape and the haori from her neck, showing him the mark on it, a blue, outlined crescent resting in a magenta honeycomb, the courting mark of the Western Lord. He had placed it there before they had left the cave.

"I know you recognize this, _boy,_" stated Sesshōmaru calmly. "Just as you know the meaning of it. Now if you will excuse us, my female wishes to meet up with the monk and the slayer before we leave for the Western House."

The three stepped around the stunned hanyō and continued on their way without looking back. Shippo crawled up the inu´s shoulder and looked at his former leader, a strangely wise expression in his young face.

"You know," he called. "You lose... but let´s see the positive point in it: Your loss, is our gain."

Loudly sputtered curses trailed after the trio as the kitsune slipped back down to the safe arm and his blanket. A happy smile spread over his face as he re-wrapped himself and cuddled comfortably back into the crook of his new alpha´s arm.

"And what a great gain it is," he murmured, closing his eyes, never noticing the consenting gaze the two adults exchanged.

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><p><strong>AN:** Please read and review! Feedback is my fuel!


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